The Captain Says Thank You!

Anyone who has set out on a long adventure such as our trip south knows that one of the hardest tasks is to just go.  Many people helped us Get Out Of Dodge and I want to mention some of them. If I forget you I apologize; it was all a long blurry period of little sleep for me.

·        The Party People: Patricia, Toby, Christina and Martin. It was a great party and it made us feel connected. We miss you already.

·       The Worker Bees: Bob Romano, David Woodside, Frank and Irene Chan. So much work was done in those last couple weeks in Emeryville. Wow.  And then there are the San Diego Worker Bees: Terry Heil, Rick Nelson and Corinne Hackbarth.  So much work was done in that one week in San Diego -- wow again!

• The Cheering Section: Martin Roysher - out with a torn rotator cuff or three he called and visited often to remind me that it could all be done and done right. Sheila Hoffer - her packing day picnic and serenade sure picked up our spirits.
• The Port in The Storm: Jean Ross who kindly put us up for a week in her spare bedroom as we packed up, moved out and cleaned our home for rental.
• And whoever left the pizza pie pan at the party because we've used it a lot since.

Technical Kudos - Those professionals who we wish to thank for their work on Abracadabra:

• San Francisco BoatWorks: Rick, Darren, Pablo, et al who did their usual professional magic on the boat hull and steering system in record time early last September. And a free lunch to boot.
• Mathiesen Marine: Earl Mathiesen, my vote for Bay Area's best marine electrician and electronics guy. Informative, honest, fast. I still smile every time I look at our electrical system.
• Alameda Canvas & Coverings: Jeff didn't even blink when I wandered in off the street and asked for the work to be done yesterday. And the repairs were done right and for a fair price.
• CruiseROWater: We bought an alternator from Rich Boren at the April Oakland Boat Show but didn't get around to installing it until just before our departure. By San Diego it had started to act up. Rich is a fellow cruiser and understood our time constraints. He drove down from his shop the next day and personally delivered a new replacement so that we could leave for points south on time with a working system. Thanks Rich.
• Cabo Yacht Center, Cabo San Lucas: Thanks to Mike, Devin, Beto and Pablo, and Lynn. A nasty little long running problem with our fuel system was finally diagnosed and fixed (and hopefully, this is The Fix - ?). 3 cheers for that!